Make Your Mark in Google's Local World

David Mihm@davidmihm

davidm@moz.com

Making Your Mark in Google’s Local World

David Mihm davidm@moz.com / @davidmihm October 15 2014

What local search means to Google1

Key local developments at Google

Where to focus your local visibility efforts

What I’ll Be Talking About

Making Your Mark in Google’s Local World

A closer look at Pigeon

Recap4

1. What does local searchmean to Google?

For starters,a third of its business.

Local on MobileLocal on Desktop

Percentages from Google and Bing

Local searchers areamong its most-engaged…

…and most purchase-driven.

Source: Deloitte Digitalhttp://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/RetailDistribution/us_retail_Mobile-Influence-Factor_062712.pdf

Frequency + engagement + purchase intent =

Companies’ / SEOs’ vision of local search

Google’s vision of local search

“ $ ?” “ ?”

Google has

ALREADY MADE most of this world.

Knowledge Graph

August 2013

Somewhat recent

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2007/12/22/local-authoritative-onebox-im-feeling-lucky-or-not/ December 2007 (!)

http://searchengineland.com/google-glass-diary-part-4-local-search-navigation-160785Evolution of the Auth. OneBox

Mobile MapsGoogle

Directories

Google Car

Google SMS

Google Maps

Google TV

Google LocalOne Box

Slide Courtesy: Mike Blumenthal

Mobile MapsGoogle

Directories

Google Car

Google SMS

Google Maps

Google TV

Slide Courtesy: Mike Blumenthal

Sentiment

October 2009

Hat tip: Michael Cottam

October 2010

May 2013

June 2014 (?)

Transaction

July 2011

June 2012

October 2013

Closing the Loop

June 2009

June 2010 Patent Filed

June 2011

Most of this has been around for over a year!

How do you provide “number of website hits”

in a world where no one visits your website?

How do you provide “ranking reports” in a world:

- without search results? - where everyone has different results?

SEOs need to adapt and evolve.

1)Adjust your mindset to pre-website conversion

2)Tactics (coming in a few slides)

3) Diversify your marketing so you’re NOT reliant on Google

How do you adapt to this world?

2. Key recent developments

Companies / SEOs Google

Pigeon!

Google+ Failed!

Google My Business Released!

Hummingbird.

Google+ Served Its Purpose.

Backend Is Unified.

Unified login Cross-device tracking Spam prevention

- Static listing IDs- Unified mapmaker backend- More realtime updates- No more custom categories

Photo credit: P. Slawinski http://pslawinski.smugmug.com/

2a. A closer look at Pigeon

Google told us that the new local search algorithm ties deeper into their web search capabilities, including the hundreds of ranking signals they use in web search along with search features such as Knowledge Graph, spelling correction, synonyms and more.

In addition, Google said that this new algorithm improves their distance and location ranking parameters.

http://searchengineland.com/google-makes-significant-changes-local-search-ranking-algorithm-197778

Web ranking

signals

Knowledge

Distance :

location

Anecdotal data

Hello, .png file!

Hello, “This domain may be for sale!”

Hello, lapsed and hijacked domain!

Web ranking

signals

Knowledge

Distance :

location

Knowledge Graph:Mozcast data

WhatMozcastSays

Mozcast: Change in Pack Frequency by Listing # 7/23 – 7/29

What Mozcast Says 2

Mozcast: Change in Pack Frequency by Listing # 7/23 – 7/29

23% drop in total # of results showing packs(Carousel and OneBox #’s relatively unaffected)

Mozcast: 7/23/14 vs 9/11/14Breakdown of Changes Among Branded and Geo-Modified Terms

Terms that GAINED Packs/Carousels

Terms that GAINED Local AOBs

Terms that SWITCHED from Packs/Carousels to Local AOBs

Terms whose Packs CHANGED numbers

Terms that SWITCHED from Local AOBs to Packs/Carousels

Terms that LOST Local AOBs

Terms that LOST Packs/Carousels

Mozcast: 7/23/14 vs 9/11/14Breakdown of Changes Among Branded and Geo-Modified Terms

(Knowledge Graph adjustments)

TLDR;Fairly even breakdown of gains and losses on these terms.

Mozcast: 7/23/14 vs 9/11/14Breakdown of Changes Among Geo-Modified Terms

Many of these are real estate related

Lots of gains among branded terms

Mozcast: 7/23/14 vs 9/11/14Breakdown of Changes Among Geo-Modified Terms

Web ranking

signals

Knowledge

Distance :

location

Distance : Location

“Convenience Store”Tighter radius to location of searchfor generic phrases.

Wider radius to location of searchfor geomodified phrases.

“Convenience Store Portland”

Web ranking

signals

Knowledge

Distance :

location

1.Search results in search results 2.Well-optimized regional-vertical directories3.Less blendinghttp://moz.com/blog/local-hummingbird-results

“Brands are how you sort out the cesspool of the Internet.”

--Eric Schmidt, Oct. 2008

“This is what you’re left with when you try to do that in Local.”

--David Mihm, Oct. 2014

"Père-Lachaise - Divison 90 - Lahovary 09" by Antonin Mercié. Wikimedia Commons.

{ pigeon poo }

Why does this…

http://searchengineland.com/expedia-becomes-new-york-city-hotel-googles-pigeon-local-update-198339

…and this…

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/07/31/google-pigeon-poo/

…and this…

Chris Silver Smithhttp://searchengineland.com/optimizing-business-internet-yellow-pages-directories-202414

…and this…

Chris Silver Smithhttp://searchengineland.com/optimizing-business-internet-yellow-pages-directories-202414

…and this…

(From my December 2013post)

…and this…

…happen?

BRAND preference.

Web signals, i.e. links, have NEVER been good at identifying worthy local businesses.

Directories’ internal links are more powerful than all but a handful of inbound links to local businesses.

How do you adapt to this world?

3. Where to focus your localvisibility resources, at scale

Act like a brand:Site architectureStructured data

Barnacle onto brandsGet reviews

Where to focus your resources

Act Like a Brand: Make It Easy for GoogleStore Locator,

Site Architecture

Google PlacesFor Business, Others

Inbound Links,Google Plus

Authorship, Publisher

WEBSITE

LOCATION

Store Locator,Site Architecture

Google PlacesFor Business, OthersGoogle Plus

Authorship, Publisher

WEBSITE

LOCATIONInbound

WEBSITE LOCATIONStore Locator Best Practices• Crawlable, traditional directories

• Unique page for each location

HomeStores

• Optimize for conversions

• Title: “Brand – Keyword(s) in City, ST”• Full “NAP” for each location in HTML• Rich content

Domino’s Pizza – Delivery, … Chicago, IL

Domino’s Pizza – Chicago, ILDomino’s Pizza1415 W Irving Park RdChicago, IL 60613(773) 871-3030

Get Driving Directions

Welcome to Domino’s Chicago Northside!

Open Daily1030 am – 130 am

PLACE AN ORDER

(From the Manager)

PLACE AN ORDER

(From the Manager)

PLACE AN ORDER

(From the Manager)

NO YESWEBSITE LOCATION

Publisher: Links entire website with aGoogle+ business page.

Authorship: Links individual posts & articles with an individual’s Google+ profile.Slide courtesy of Mike Blumenthal: blumenthals.com/blog

WEBSITE BRAND

• Links are still a very important piece of the algorithm• Hard to scale; should come naturally from community

involvement• Branded anchor text on the rise as a ranking factor

BRAND LOCATIONGoogle My Business

https://www.google.com/local/manage/

BRAND LOCATION

Google My Businessis only part of theequation.

Source: Google Patent Application 60658214

“Generating Structured Information”

What this:

really looks like…

Between 20-40% of this is wrong.You can manage listings on

each site individually.

Vendors make it easier.

Interesting Post-Pigeon Data Point

Consider “Barnacling”

h/t Will Scott and Justin Sanger for the term “Barnacle” in Local

Get Reviews. Why?

• 70+% of people trust online reviews

• In fact, 79% of people trust reviews as much as personal recommendations

• (Also, rankings!)Source: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2012/nielsen-global-consumers-trust-in-earned-advertising-grows.html

Source: http://searchengineland.com/2013-study-79-of-consumers-trust-online-reviews-as-much-as-personal-recommendations-164565Source: http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

Which sites?

(Another) Interesting Post-Pigeon Data Point

RecapGoogle is thinking way beyond your website.

Rankings and on-site conversions are now just directional indicators of success.

Need a a broader overall business impact assessment than web analytics provides.

RecapProximity is shifting dramatically towards searcher.

Content, authority can pull-in geomodifying searchers where the radius is wider.

RecapBrand signals are on the rise.

This rewards1. Directories

(Consider barnacling for success)2. National brands with strong Local SEO3. Branded anchor text4. Branded searches5. Clickthrough rate

RecapReviews continue to grow in importance.

Google seems to be using review content to assess categorical relevance.

RecapStudy—don’t complain about—the crazy Authoritative OneBoxes.

These are valuable learning opportunities (Jack Regan, Leucadia);the algorithm will mature.

GMB SIGNALS

SEARCHERCENTROID

BEHAVIORAL

ON-PAGE REVIEWS

CITATIONS

AlgorithmicEvolution

2008 – 10 Pack Introduction

2012 – Stability Post-Venice

2014 – Pigeon

AlgorithmicEvolution

2008 – 10 Pack Introduction

2012 – Stability Post-Venice

2014 – Pigeon

GMB SIGNALS

SEARCHERCENTROID

BEHAVIORAL

ON-PAGE REVIEWS

CITATIONS

2015+ – My Prediction

Order of Operations

RichContent

Customer-generated

Input from managers

Data-driven graphicsand content that scale

StreamlineReview Process

Research topindustry sites

- prominent

- accept Facebook logins

Integrate into CRM

ManageLocation Data

Google MyBusiness

Majoraggregators

Importantdirectories

Optimize Store Locator

Crawlable structure

One location,one page

Title Tags

NAP in HTML(schema.org)

Optimize forconverstions

(Aside: 2014 Local Search Ranking Factors)

Thank you!davidm@moz.com

moz.com/local

Ongoing Resources

Moz.com/blog

Make Your Mark in Google's Local World

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